Long Overdue Intro, Frustration, & Logistics

[scogar]

Hi,name is Scott, go by scogar on here. Native northern New Englander (NH) but found myself down in Atlanta Metro since 99 and now realize that a significant part of my life is in Georgia. So I'm neither a Yankee nor a Rebel, but I do find myself gravitating to traditions of the Appalachians whether they be from the north or south. My wife (new model picked up down here) won't live in the snow so I reckon I'm staying...(though I do fancy a hunting lodge on some land in northern Maine... :D where land is cheap and the people sparse)

Anyway, today I have a few acres in Dahlonega about an hour north of where I live in Home Owner Association He**. I've been interested in sawmills since the late 70s when I was a teen and have researched them periodically over the decades. Years ago I cleared and built a couple of acres in NH but never could line up a mill for the logs I saved, so they went into the numerous Bacchanalian bonfires I had as a young adult. I did finally about 10-11 years ago buy a nice chainsaw and have done some milling with a panther mill (an Alaskan type mill) but that has been sporadic at best and difficult to do in suburbia.

So that brings me to March 2020 where I found myself getting preliminary drawings for the "soon to be built" house in Dahlonega but literally the day I got the plan proposal, the world shut down. My job was furloughed and I wasn't sure of anything. When 2021 hit I thought I would relaunch but the lumber crisis remained in full swing and supply chain issues abounded. Moreover it was near impossible to be certain you could hire a contractor of any quality and if so that he/she could get a build done at a fair price, and the craziest building supply things it seemed were nowhere to be found. So I decided that at least I would line up a sawmill purchase that way I could be ready to mill and dry the material and use it for nonstructural elements of the build when that finally started. But these too I learned had a 1 year plus backlog at least for the mills of interest to me. 

I have landed on a TimberKing 1400 with Setworks (though I sometimes see the justification for the 1600), but I expect that I'll need a tractor and I'm thinking of a Woodmaster Planer. So the three together come out to a tidy sum. The justification for the sawmill and planer come from using the timber cleared for building. If I don't use this wood, I can't justify the costs of the mill or planer since I don't expect to be in the business. The tractor will of course have all sorts of uses including as a skidder and the lifting of the log onto the mill.

I'm frustrated because:

• I can't get the mill for 14 months
• I don't think clearing the property now and leaving the logs to weather makes sense esp in GA with the bugs
• If I get the mill I don't really know where to store it since all the RV and Boat facilities I can find are booked solid
• I can't store the mill at home nor can I leave it chained to a tree an hour north of me

I don't know if I have a question, I'll let others who may have had similar issues give me some thoughts, but I'm finding every bright idea I get has a roadblock of some kind and I ain't getting any younger. Would love to hear from some of the people in Georgia because maybe getting the wood sawn could make some sense...but I suspect that skews the numbers away from the mill justification too. Maybe cutting and milling with my chainsaw for a year is a solution. I'm just at wit's end now

Thanks ahead of time for letting me vent.
Scott

[Daburner87]

I'm not knocking the TimberKing, but you could get a Woodland Mills HM130 Max and save $13,000.  On top of that it can be delivered in 4-12 weeks as their website suggests.  I got mine at least 3 weeks earlier than estimated ship date.  Why wait 14 months when you could potentially have it in one month?  The HM130Max is proven, and well reviewed.  More than capable of handling your job, just get track extensions if you need it longer than 16'.  Why wait?

[doc henderson]

I have a timbering 2000 and love it, a good company. very few have anything available in less than a year.  it is amazing, as I work in the ED, the people that know there is a world wide pandemic, but cannot understand why the hospital is full, and 12 people are waiting in the ED to be admitted, and 10 folks in the waiting area, have been there 3 hours.  here we are.  You could clear the land, and hire a local to mill the wood until you get your mill.  you may need a place to cover and store the milled wood or it will rot.  you can do the same with the logs. seal the ends, and keep the water and soil away, or sink them in a pond.  there are mills available used, but cost the same as new for the convenience of immediate delivery.  it is also not a good time to wheel and deal on a one ton dually truck.  it is a sellers market.  good luck with your adventures, and that they will be.  

[WV Sawmiller]

   Welcome to the FF. Good luck on your projects. 

   First question is are there any building code restrictions restricting the use of you own lumber in the area?

   Will you be using the mill after your house and any associated outbuildings are built? If not you might look at having a mobile sawyer come saw for you. That way you don't have the storage issues and concerns. I'd be real concerned if my mill was an hour away from me most of the time. 

   Another option if you don't need the mill after your home is built is to keep it well maintained then sell it. Well maintained sawmills hold their value very well.

    I don't have any good suggestions on storage of your mill as described unless you can find someplace there who has safe, commercial storage and I have no idea what such would cost. If you or your wife had friends or relative up there with a little land you might work a deal with them for storage in exchange for a little lumber or sawing periodically.

    Have you talked to the Woodmizer dealer there near you? He might could suggest something and keep an eye out for good trade ins.

    My FIL was from Ellijay just up the road from Dahlonega. We had a piece of property there but after we moved to WV the Mountain Land novelty wore off pretty quick and in a hurry and taxes kept going through the roof so we sold it. We used to go up there and make an apple run along about October.

   Keep us posted on what you decide.

[moodnacreek]

You gotta go back to N.H. and get a Lane. The woods up there is full of them.

[scogar]

Daburner87 said
... you could get a Woodland Mills HM130 Max and save $13,000.  Why wait 14 months when you could potentially have it in one month?  The HM130Max is proven, and well reviewed.  More than capable of handling your job, just get track extensions if you need it longer than 16'.  Why wait?

Well, that's a really good point that I am going to consider. It is possible that based on the length of the mill I can situate it in the garage too. So that's a thought now in the mix. And @WV Sawmiller , there seems to be an allowance for use of rough sawn lumber but my recollection is that the plans need to specify it and once specified as rough you can't go back. I never really looked too deeply into the matter because I didn't plan on using the lumber structurally. I would presume that I could use it for molding, trim, cabinetry, flooring, etc. But I admit that I am speculating here. Along with non-structural in the house, my intention simply was not to waste it. I could use it for outbuildings, woodshed, etc. But its probably time again to look through the codes.

And once the costs were offset by the lumber usage I intended to keep it operational (as much as needed) for my woodworking supply. I simply wanted to ensure that paying $20K for a "toy" - as she says saves me $20K whether it is in materials or $10K in materials and $10K in residual value. Every dollar spent at this stage of life comes out of a retirement dollar, so I'm looking for the bang for the buck.

I did call Cooks, WoodMizer, TimberKing, and even a few others but the research took me down the path I spoke of, however, maybe I should consider going back to that road that diverged in the woods and take the Woodland Mills path. Heck, I could always sell that and upgrade when the world spins again. And @moodnacreek, I think the NH ship has sailed. We bought 25 acres of land outside of Concord NH in 2010 or so but the noise from her kept escalating through the years that she was concerned with the cold (that starts at 60°F for her) so "we"  : ultimately sold in 2018/19. I was sad because I do miss the snow, skiing, etc. and as a big guy tend to work better in the cold. But like I said I think I fit anywhere along the Appalachian mountains and at least the property in GA is right in them and this has the benefit of making mama happy

[WV Sawmiller]

   I think you're making one right decision at least as far as keeping Mama happy. Wise choice!

   I just mentioned the WM dealer because he was close enough to actually go to his lot and talk with him. I did that with the dealer in NC before I bought my mill. He was the closest and not to far out of route when we went to visit our daughter in Charlotte. I like to look at a piece of equipment instead of a spec sheet. The big decision I had was to determine if I thought I could operate and maintain the machine with my very limited mechanical skills and Tyler in NC convinced me that I could and the rest is history.

   I always recommend go see any sawmill demo or operation you can and you will learn something even if not the same machine. Loading and cutting a log and removing boards and slabs happen on every mill and you can still pick up tips to make it safer and easier.

   Good luck and keep us posted.

[scogar]

Well I would be stupid to argue that in 14 mos I can't make the trip to Newnan in person. I owe it to myself, so thanks for the push. I tend to make decisions and move forward, but since I'm stuck, no reason not to add info to the logpile. :P

[WDH]

At age 57, you will get tired of the manual mill very quickly......

[doc henderson]

the mills hold there value and during this craziness, mine is potentially worth almost double (new price) and is 10 y/o.  lots of mills being sold, in addition to supply chain stuff.  there may be a bunch of used mills for sale in a few years. ;)

[Crossroads]

I switched from a manual mill to hydraulics at 47 and have no regrets. Also, the hydraulics should help with resale value. Best wishes 

[Southside]

And then you switched to a rocket powered mill at 52.  ;D

[Nebraska]

At age 57, you will get tired of the manual mill very quickly......

I'm not there yet but can whole heartedly agree that hydraulics  would helpful.

[SawyerTed]

I was 48 when I started looking at mills.  It took 7 years before I decided I had to have a sawmill.  When I showed my wife the videos for the manual mill I was looking at, she said something about I probably didn't want to work that hard at 55.  So I showed her a video of a hydraulic mill and she said I should get that one.  

When we talked about upgrading to the LT 50 she said something similar to Yellowhammer, that the upgrade mill will be less wear and tear on you.  After suffering for nearly a year with a bad right knee, she suggested that stepping around the tire on the LT 35 was aggravating my bad knee.  Viola!  I also upgraded to the stationary controls, Command Control.  

The lesson learned there is I should have showed her all three videos, the manual mill, the LT 35 and the LT 50.  Maybe she would have gone for the LT 50 first!  :D  I doubt it due to the amount of money involved without know whether I would like sawmilling enough to stay with it.  Now she talks about my "sawdust disease" for which there is no cure.

[mike_belben]

i will gladly provide 24/7 fenced security with guns and guard dogs if you wanna store your mill here. but i suggest you store the timber on the stump.  leave it alone let it grow as i used to hear my stepfather say any time i scratched my nuts. 

[scogar]

Lotta great advice so thanks. Gotta remember that my goal was a TK1400 (some hydraulics), maybe justifying the 1600 w/hydraulics. BUT I can't get any of these or a Woodmizer in the near term. This sets up a whole lot of issues that I can't seem to get a satisfactory work through. BUT BUT, the concept of the Woodland Mills gives me a 10'6" trailer (which fits in the garage of HOA He**), I can get it in a few months and the cost of it isn't ridiculous. And I can't find any legitimate negativity on the mill. You have to realize I was starting to consider upgrading my chainsaw to the Stihl MS880 for about $2K and spending some months just burning it up as well as gaining muscle mass, cardio, and likely some significant wear and tear on the old man body I sport. That's how frustrated I have been. But DABurner reset the brain with the 130MAX. It's still a band mill which compared to a chain saw is like going from the LT15 to the LT70.

Easier to use, may be all I need if I stay a hobbyist, could always sell at 25 or 50 cents on the dollar as covering purchase cost will be quick and easy. And assuming that I can justify continued sawing (which I don't think will be a concern - I still do it with the chainsaw by Gawd) I can then skip over the 1400 for the 1600, and likely get into a hydraulic used one as doc said.

I haven't landed yet but I am circling the airport until some wrench falls on my head. I'll keep you all updated, but these are the sunniest thoughts I have had on this for awhile. I knew kicking it back out might get me to see things from a new(er) perspective

[RGRJN]

Scogar

You can use rough cut to build in Lumpkin County, just has to spec'd and part of the original building permit. If you wanna play with a manual mill some time to see if it will fit with your plans or how much wear and tear it will give you, give me shout. I live in Lumpkin County and have a Frontier. Not mobile though. 63 year old hobbyist here.

Joe

[Rhodemont]

Get moving on your project.  Have one of the portable guys come to you and mill what you need to fell at first until you get your own mill.  57 becomes 63 real fast.

[scogar]

Tell me about it Rhodemont. I woke up and learned I was this old...I thought it was a joke until I looked in the mirror  ;D

[WDH]

Interesting that you look at yourself in the mirror and you don't look that old to yourself.  Then, look at a picture of yourself and you look old as dirt.  

[btulloh]

Interesting that you look at yourself in the mirror and you don't look that old to yourself.  Then, look at a picture of yourself and you look old as dirt.  

Yes that is interesting. And I find it to be very disturbing. 

[WDH]

Maybe it means that you are older than you think you are.  

[btulloh]

Maybe it means that you are older than you think you are.  

lol lol lol 
That is a disturbing reality. 

[Southside]

Ever think the mirror is old and the picture isn't as clear as it was just like the TV set?  :D

[btulloh]

All that, Southside. Problem is, when someone takes a picture, self-deception can't be applied. 77" 4k OLED tv solved the tv problem though. 

Maybe it's time to sacrifice some chickens. Or is that only effective for drying lumber?